Friday, June 30, 2023

Extraction II (2023)

Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) miraculously survived his injuries and is recovering in Austria when a nameless man (Idris Elba) appears at his home.  He offers him a job.  Tyler isn't interested until the man says that Tyler's ex-wife is the client.  The Radiani brothers are drug dealers in Georgia (the country, not the state).  The younger brother has been incarcerated and, thanks to the influence of his brother, his wife and children have a cell nearby.  The wife is Tyler's ex-wife's sister.  Tyler accepts the job without first consulting with Nik Khan (Golshifteh Farahani), who normally arranges contracts.

After 6 weeks of training, Tyler, Nik, and crew are in Georgia.  Tyler infiltrates the prison and extracts the wife, Ketevan, and children, Sandro & Nina.  Sandro, an angsty teenager, wants to know about his father.  Inevitably, the alarm sounds and the most epic series of fight scenes during a prison riot ensue.  Once out of the prison, now they must evade Radiani's goons, who have had time to intercept.  Action!  Action!  Action!

The movie has more action than story.  The villain gets a grim backstory that tells of his abusive father and drug dealing uncle.  He has grown up to be a very hard man who cannot forgive or let go.  He is more than willing to sacrifice every man in his organization for revenge.  The story of Tyler's son is expanded and his wife, Mia (Olga Kurylenko), is introduced.  Nik, who was mostly a behind-the-scenes manager in the last outing, is a field operative here.  The story does have some weaknesses, especially how blind Tyler and Nik are to the angsty Sandro.  How do you allow him to access a phone?  You would think that extraction experts would know about Stockholm Syndrome and the like.

This is a high-octane action movie.  Like its predecessor, it knows what it is and delivers a smorgasbord gunbattles, fisticuffs, car chases, and more.  Great popcorn fun and highly recommended.

No comments: